A Yank on the Burma Road

drama / válečný, USA, 1942, 67 min.

Režie: George B. Seitz
Herci: Laraine Dayová, Barry Nelson, Stuart Crawford, Keye Luke, Victor Sen Yung, více...




In the autumn of 1941, after cabbie Joe Tracey casually walks into a police station and delivers the Spinaldi brothers, killers whom he singlehandedly captured while the entire New York City police force was searching for them, he becomes an instant celebrity. His fame comes to the attention of the Five Brothers Society, a Chinese benevolent group who want to hire him for $25,000 to lead trucks filled with medical supplies across the Burma Road from Rangoon to Chungking. He at first declines, but is finally shamed by the many school children who make donations to the cause and accepts. On the day that Joe and his Chinese-American colleague, Kim How, arrive in Rangoon, American Gail Farwood is refused a passport to go to Chungking because the British authorities regard her German-born, American-educated husband Tom as a traitor because he has flown bombing raids with the Japanese. She is then ordered to leave the country within forty-eight hours. When Gail sees Joe at her hotel and hears about his mission, she hires a man to pretend to rob her so Joe can become her "hero." She flatters him, then says she is soon flying to Chungking to meet a friend. That night, Joe takes her out and suggests that she cancel her flight and come with him to Chungking. She enthusiastically agrees, and that night after Joe commandeers a transport train to carry the gasoline-lacking trucks, they leave Rangoon on the first leg of the journey. Joe makes a play for Gail on the train, but she rebuffs him, causing him to knock over a lamp that starts a small fire and burns his hands. By the convoy's first stop, their antagonism has waned and they begin to like each other. When they arrive at the Chinese border, he hints at deep feelings for her and agrees to cover for her when she hides in the back of the truck, not wanting the Chinese to know that she is there. While they are stopped, though, an official says that they are looking for an American without a passport who is the wife of an imprisoned traitor. After covering for her, he orders her out, but soon recants when he senses that she is sincere. Despite the hazards on the road, the convoy advances. While they continue their drive, she admits that Tom is both a "hero and a heel" and Joe is a lot like him. Soon a Japanese bomber squadron flies overhead, aiming at a bridge that the convoy must cross. The convoy is too late to cross before the bombing and they must go on an emergency road that is very dangerous. On the way, Joe admits that his motives at first were not pure, but now, inspired by Kim, the amiable driver Wing and others, he is proud to be part of the mercy mission. They soon come upon a bombed-out town in which the people are starving. When some villagers hear her name, an old man and woman identify Farwood as the name of a German who flew for the Japanese and mention that he is being held prisoner nearby. Gail then asks Joe to take her to Tom. Kim advises him against it, because they are going into enemy-held territory, but Joe drives Gail to the town where Tom is being held. Gail is disgusted to find that Tom has been a mercenary for the Japanese and begins to see him as he really is, but promises to stand by him through his current situation. Joe negotiates to take Tom to Chungking to stand trial, but just then the news arrives that the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, and Tom determines to help the Chinese hold the nearby town of Chien-ou. He and Kim then mobilize the surrounding villagers. After Wing volunteers to drive a backup truck, Joe drives toward the town, with Gail and Tom riding in the back. When they arrive at the town gates, though, Wing drives forward and draws enemy fire, so that Joe can get through. After Wing is killed, Joe realizes that the Japanese machine guns will butcher his men as they spill into town, so he crashes his truck into the building where the machine gun is set up. In the foray, Gail lets Tom loose to defend himself, but he attacks the Chinese, and Kim shoots him. Soon the Chinese overpower the Japanese and the road to Chungking is now open, allowing Gail and Joe to drive on with their supplies.
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